Mary Murphy returns to Music of Mavis series at Turner Gazebo

Mary Murphy Submitted photo

“Music for Mavis” Tuesdays at the Gazebo music series happily welcomes back Mary Murphy at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the Gazebo in Turner.

Murphy describes herself as “a mainly a self-taught musician, what some call a natural.”

“When I was a baby, I remember hearing harmony being sung (on the radio) and I loved it. It stuck with me. I started picking out songs on a toy piano at around age three. I wrote my first blues song when I was twelve years old, after receiving a folk guitar as a gift from my parents, and kept writing through the years.”

“The Murphy musicians go back many generations in the USA, Canada and Ireland. My early childhood musical memories were of relatives and friends of the family who would bring their instruments to our home to jam with my father, Chester Murphy, a finger-picking guitarist and soulful singer of country and folk tunes. My early influences included my father and watching him play, I adapted his finger-picking guitar style. Other influences were Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash and various folk artists. Later influences include Johnny Winter, Billie Holiday, Memphis Minnie, Janis Joplin & more. While in my twenties, I signed with B.M.I. (Broadcast Music International) as a song-writer and performer.”

“I have a working knowledge of French and a few other languages and sometimes will include some French songs or a Danish tune here and there in my concerts.”

Murphy has won numerous state and international awards for writing and performing music from DECMA (Downeast Country Music Association) and NACMAI (North America Country Music Association International).

The show will go on rain or shine. Bring a chair, a blanket, and a friend. We pass the hat to pay the musicians. Suggested donation $10. For more information, call 207-754-0954 or visit the Music for Mavis page on Facebook. The gazebo is located off Rt. 117 near the Turner Public Library at 98 Mathews Way, Turner.